NFL - NEWS & NOTES

No doubt Irish. I'm just numb to that bullshit at this point. Our team will be the punching bag until they punch their way out of it, and unfortunately it is richly deserved, especially after commanding all that attention in 2019 and then falling flat. The national media relished in the fact that things went belly-up in Cleveland after we were the darlings of the offseason....This is why I love where we are at now. No crazy expectations. Just a really good team on paper, that might finally put it all together.

 

DeAndre Hopkins: I know I’m the best wide receiver in the NFL



Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins says he’s the top pass catcher in football, and that his numbers would dwarf those of other star receivers if he had played his entire career with an elite quarterback.

Hopkins said on ESPN that there is no doubt in his mind where he ranks.

“I definitely think I’m the best,” Hopkins said. “I know I’m the best.”

Hopkins has never led the league in catches or yards, but he said that’s a reflection of the offenses he has played in. Hopkins said he would have better numbers than Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas or Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones if he had their quarterbacks.

“Mike’s my boy. We were just texting yesterday. But he knows if I had Drew Brees my whole career what these numbers would be,” Hopkins said. “Julio Jones knows if I had Matt Ryan my whole career, he knows what my numbers would be. Those guys are definitely blessed to be in a position where their whole career they had a Pro Bowl quarterback.”

The Cardinals traded for Hopkins in the hopes that he and Kyler Murray can become an elite quarterback-receiver duo for years to come. And perhaps Hopkins can work in an offense that gives him the chance to put up the best numbers of any wide receiver in the NFL.

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Id argue, Micheal Thomas might be the best WR, especially from the slot. Good pattern runner and aint afraid to go through the middle... great hands too. I think he also led the NFL in yardage last season. DeAndre is great, but i got Thomas a tick better.

 

This little tid-bit cracked me up!

Melvin Gordon on playing with no fans: “We didn’t have fans anyway”



If COVID-19 forces NFL teams to play in empty stadiums, Melvin Gordon says it won’t feel much different for him.

Gordon, who played his entire career for the Chargers before signing with the Broncos this offseason, noted that the Chargers played in front of plenty of empty seats.

“We didn’t have fans anyway,” Gordon said in an interview with Marcus Cromartie. “We didn’t have many Chargers fans at the game. . . . So I’m not missing much.”

The Broncos, of course, have a strong fan base, and if the NFL were to play in empty stadiums, Gordon’s current team would be losing a lot. But as Gordon notes, for teams without good home-field advantages, empty stadiums might not make much of a difference. And on the road, it would be beneficial.

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Gordon's words might piss off my brother and the other 12 Chargers fans in the world.

 

When the Ravens announced that Matt Judon had agreed to sign his franchise tag on Thursday, it was unclear whether he was doing so as a defensive end or a linebacker. It turns out they agreed to split the difference.

Judon has agreed to a one-year contract with a guaranteed salary of $16.808 million, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media. The number they arrived at is the average of the $15.828 million franchise tag for linebackers and the $17.788 million franchise tag for defensive ends.

In the Ravens’ defense, Judon plays a hybrid position that could easily be described as either a defensive end or a linebacker. If the two sides hadn’t agreed to a compromise, they would have had to go before a neutral arbitrator who would have decided which position Judon plays for the purposes of the franchise tag.

It’s still possible that the whole thing will become moot, as the Ravens and Judon could agree to a long-term contract before the July 15 deadline. The fact that they agreed on this compromise bodes well for their ability to reach a long-term deal.

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Jack Del Rio: Sky’s the limit on what Chase Young can do in Washington



Washington defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio says rookie pass rusher Chase Young has infinite potential.

Young, the second overall pick who was viewed by many as the most talented football player in this year’s draft, has Del Rio licking his chops about how his defense can get after the quarterback.

“I think the sky’s the limit for him in terms of what he will be able to bring us,” Del Rio said, via the Washington Post.

Young, of course, has not set foot in the team facility, but Del Rio doesn’t need to see Young on the practice field to know what he can do.

“We haven’t seen him yet [on the field], but I’ve watched enough tape,” Del Rio said. “He’s going to be a really good player for us.”

Del Rio lauded Young for the work he has done so far in team Zoom meetings. But when it comes to what Young is capable of doing, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

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Or he doesn't want to go to Cleveland and there's no spin at all.

 

“Sky Judge” experiment makes it easier to implement emergency option, rules notwithstanding



The NFL’s preseason experiment with a “Sky Judge” appears on the surface to be a half-hearted half-measure aimed at creating the impression that the league is trying to get calls right, even if the effort isn’t successful. But the mechanism that allows the referee to talk to the replay assistant opens the door for active communication between the replay assistant and the referee, communication that can (in theory) stray from the four corners of a rule that activates the process only if the referee asks the replay assistant for input.

In his weekly Football Morning in America column, Peter King addresses the dynamic — and expresses a belief that the league actually wants the replay assistant to talk to the referee, even if the replay technically isn’t supposed to speak unless the replay assistant is spoken to first.

As noted last week, the new procedure does not allow the referee to consult with the replay assistant as to whether pass interference did or didn’t happen, which necessarily puts the league back in the same posture that created the Rams-Saints NFC Championship debacle. Then, senior V.P. of officiating Al Riveron resisted any impulse to activate the audio pipeline to the referee and say something like, “Drop a flag or it’s all over, over.” The new procedure creates a more natural mechanism for the conversation to occur.

“What is to prevent the replay official from saying into the ref’s ear: ‘Hey, crew-conference with those guys on that downfield pass play. Looks like pretty obvious interference’?” King writes. “What’s to stop the referee huddling with three or four of the downfield officials and coming out of that huddle with a flag thrown? I don’t know if that would ever happen, but it sure seems like the door is ajar to allow it to happen.”

King explains that plenty of officials would take the position that this isn’t allowed, and that others would welcome the ability to avoid a bad outcome. And then King ends his point with this: “Now, I think the league wants the replay officials to alert referees about plays that should be amended.”

There’s another benefit to encouraging the replay assistant to talk to the referee. If provides a conduit for Riveron to communicate to the referee by communicating with the replay assistant. So if the replay assistant isn’t already telling the referee there’s a problem, Riveron can tell the replay assistant to tell the referee.

If the end result of this process is that more calls are right and that fewer mistakes are made, good. Getting it right is all that should matter. And if getting it right can be done efficiently and smoothly and without bogging down the game, even better.

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Dont understand why utilizing todays technology is so hard. I can see a replay and make the correct call, 9.9 times out of 10. We dont need another Saint Rams type fiasco and the capability is there to get it right , so what in hell is the issue?

 

The problem with replay is that you could call a hold on almost every play.

 

Yes, you could, but you could straighten up a bungled call on the field too.

 

Michigan reopens to sports practices, games



Lions head coach Matt Patricia said toward the end of last month that the team wasn’t in any hurry to get back into their facility and there wasn’t much reason for them to be hurrying because Michigan still had many closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lions can now start to think about when they’d like to reopen their facility if they’re so inclined. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order on Monday loosening many restrictions and allowing for the resumption of activities at many businesses. It also allowed for the resumption of sporting events.

Per the order, outdoor sports practices and games can take place as long as individuals on the field and in the stands are able to practice social distancing. Crowds for outdoor events are capped at 100 people for the time being, so the current restrictions don’t necessarily lend themselves to an NFL practice or game environment.

While the Lions would be able to practice under such guidelines, there’s no reason to think this will make in-person activities any likelier before the end of offseason activities. All NFL teams will need to be able to access their facilities in order for such work to happen and the Lions were not the only team to do so.

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The Raiders didn’t say much about Henry Ruggs III’s injury in a statement, but Ruggs’ father shared some details.

Henry Ruggs Jr. said his son is on crutches but “feels OK.”

The Raiders receiver injured his thigh while moving some belongings into the back of a trailer.

“He was trying to move a trailer or something — move furniture or something — and the trailer just kind of pinned him against a car or a wall or something,” Henry Ruggs Jr. told Wesley Sinor of AL.com. “He’s pretty much OK. I’m about to go out there and see him in a little bit. It was just like a little open wound on his leg, a little incision. Like something had stuck him right there on his thigh a little bit.”

Ruggs Jr. said he has not talked to the doctor yet, but again deemed his son “OK” after the scare.

“With this COVID-19 stuff still going on, they wouldn’t let anybody in,” Ruggs Jr. said. “He’s just having to walk on crutches. Not putting as much pressure on it.”

The Raiders made Ruggs III the 12th overall choice after he caught 98 passes for 1,716 yards and 24 touchdowns in his career at Alabama.

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Ken Anderson is often listed among the best quarterbacks not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but if he was ever going to make it, it was probably going to be this year, when an expanded Hall of Fame class was chosen in conjunction with the NFL’s 100th anniversary.

Anderson didn’t make it, which means he may never make it, and he’s OK with that.

“I don’t think twice about it, to be honest with you, except those times of year when it comes time for the election and somebody will call and say, ‘What do you think?’” Anderson told Sporting News. “Other than that, it doesn’t cross my mind. I guess the only time I was disappointed was the first time I was eligible, and I got into the final 15 and didn’t make it, and then it was disappointing. After that, I guess when you come from my background and grow up in a small town and go to a small high school and then go to a small college, you never dream about those things. My dream was fulfilled when I got a chance to play professional football for 16 years.”

During his 16-year career with the Bengals, Anderson led the NFL in passer rating four times, led the NFL in completion percentage three times and led the NFL in passing yards, yards per attempt and completions twice each.

He was the league MVP in 1981 and took the Bengals to the Super Bowl after that season. He has good credentials, but they haven’t been enough to get him a bust in Canton, and he’s made his peace with that.

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Here's an update.

 

Last year Derrick Henry led the NFL with 303 carries and 1,540 rushing yards. This year, those numbers may go down, by design.

Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said it will probably be better for Tennessee’s offense “if more guys are touching the ball,” according to Michael Giardi of NFL Network.

Smith said he’s excited about rookie third-round draft pick Darrynton Evans, who is likely to be the Titans’ No. 2 running back this season.

Henry has signed his franchise tender and is ready to play for a one-year, $10.278 million contract this year. If Evans successfully reduces Henry’s workload this year, the Titans may allow Henry to walk in free agency next year.

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Henry is still relatively undamaged from playing in the NFL. He would be a great FA pickup for the team that would get him

 

Bucs to use two tight ends as base offense



The Buccaneers already had a good pair of tight ends on the roster, before Rob Gronkowski came to town.

So it makes sense that they want to use them all.

Via Greg Auman of TheAthletic.com, Bucs coach Bruce Arians replied “that’s our base offense” when asked about what’s referred to as “12 personnel” (one back, two tight ends).

Arians also mentioned the possibility of using three tight ends on the field at the same time, meaning roles for Gronkowski, Cameron Brate, and O.J. Howard.

But putting Gronkowski and another tight end on the field with wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin presents an array of options, and a versatility new quarterback Tom Brady will be familiar with from his days with the Patriots.

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Has great potential to be a very efficient, potent offense.